The noon sun shone on the Beifong Metalbending Academy, located just outside the newly independent city of Yu Dao in the Earth Kingdom. The typical gaggle of prospective students crowding the doors and windows was absent; only the winged boar suit composed of repurposed Fire Nation armor occupied the grounds. Even the normal shouts of instruction, inquiry, pain, and - occasionally - success failed to emanate from either of the two buildings. Passersby would have assumed that the school was empty.

Inside the older building (previously a firebending dojo), seven figures stood, six of them moving occasionally. Three of these six were composed of iron, and were more or less visual duplicates of the other three. The odd figure out faced away from the group, arms folded, black hair partially covering her milky white eyes. As her three so-called advanced students worked on their metallic self-portraits, she monitored their progress through the minute vibrations that their actions created in the floor.

Penga, who was even shorter, younger, and most decidedly more feminine than Toph, had essentially finished her sculpture a good hour ago, and had spent that hour making it "try on" innumerable styles of metal shoes, each pair fashioned from the last.

Ho Tun was at least a head taller than Toph and probably three times as wide, though he had left a few pounds off of his statue (proportionally speaking). Despite his size he perpetually sported a nervous expression, and had spent a quarter hour or so trying and failing to remove it from his iron double.

The third student shared Ho Tun's height but none of his girth, and his perennial expression was one of irritation rather than worry. His eyes appeared slightly sunken (which may or may not have been affected through the use of makeup), and he preferred to be addressed only as "the Dark One." Before him stood an only vaguely person-shaped chunk of metal.

Without turning around, Toph threw her arm backward and pointed directly at the twisted heap. "Dark One! Your fellow lily livers are almost done! You'd better pick up the pace!"

A melodramatic sigh escaped the student's lungs before he replied. "But Sifu Toph, how can this hard shell possibly convey the emptiness within?"

"I don't know," said Toph, "but your empty head better figure it out, or else your empty stomach will stay that way!"

For the umpteenth time, the Dark One gazed upon his reflection in the mirror. The identical mirrors that Ho Tun and Penga had been using now leaned against the far wall, reflecting sunlight onto the ceiling. Naturally, they were framed with a bendable iron alloy, and next to them were piled a great many other metallic and partially-metallic objects, grouped somewhat by type but mostly left in disarray. A careful eye might have guessed that the statues under construction had been cobbled together from severed portions of these random items.

Toph's head rose slightly. "Too late. Looks like you'll be working through lunch."

Before the students could inquire about this comment, a blue-clad figure slid into the room through the open doors.

"Heeeeeeeere's Sokka!"

Toph's expression said it all, but because it was Sokka she added flatly, "What was that?"

Sokka raised his arms in a wide shrug and said, still grinning, "Just thought I'd spice up my entrance."

"I tried to stop him!" came Katara's voice from outside.

"You should've tried harder!" Toph replied.

Sokka threw his arm around Toph's shoulders, and she finally broke into a smile. "Good to not see you, anyway," she said.

"Aaaaaaaah!" Sokka vocalized his appreciation of the joke, pointing at her. Turning his head to look backwards over hers, he waved at her three students. "Penga, Ho Tun, Darky . . ."

The Dark One glowered at him. With a purring squawk, a lemur flew in through the window and alighted on the Dark One's head. He chose to ignore this.

Penga rushed over to Sokka and clung to his arm, sandwiching him between Toph and herself. He chose to ignore this.

Through the doorway came Katara, carrying a large basket full of foodstuffs. Following, and then overtaking her came three more baskets, each riding on a ball of swirling wind. A fourth air scooter carried Aang himself into the room, and when he settled in the middle of the floating wickerwork, all four spheres dispersed, gently lowering the baskets to the floor.

"Who's hungry?" said the Avatar with a smile.

"You'd better have more than just tofu in there, Twinkletoes," Toph responded.

"Don't worry," said Sokka, patting her shoulder, "I've gotcha covered."

"Well," said Toph, pointing first across him at Penga and then behind herself, "Penga and Ho Tun can join us, but the Dark One has neglected to -"

There was a terrible, drawn-out metallic squeal, and everyone turned to watch the Dark One furiously dragging his hands down through the air as though it were molasses, and the metal before him, in response, rearranging itself into a perfect facsimile of him doing so, face contorted and fingers gnarled. Momo, startled, took off from his head and hovered just under the ceiling.

When the noise faded, Toph stomped her foot to get a better look at the sculpture. "Huh. Not bad. What do you eye people think?"

"It's great!" said Aang genuinely.

Sokka walked over and circled the statue, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Pretty good likeness, I have to say."

Penga placed one hand on her chest and held the other up dramatically. "O cruel fate, how boldly you flaunt my tortured soul!" she said in a spot-on impression of the Dark One, causing everyone but him to burst into laughter.

After it subsided, the next sound was a loud growl from the vast depths of Ho Tun's stomach. Looking sheepish, he said, "I, uh . . . might've slept through breakfast."

"Then we'd better dig in!" said Aang. "If that's okay with Sifu Toph."

Toph made sliding motions with her hands and feet, and one by one the metal statues slid themselves into place along the far wall. When this was complete, she folded out of her stance and said, "Let's eat."

Jaune unsheathed his sword and prompted the sheath to expand into its shield form. Then he undid both actions and repeated them again. And again.

The Vytal Festival Tournament. Sure to be a defining moment in his career as a Huntsman, if not his entire life. But he had no reason to be nervous. Nope. None at all.

Oh, who was he kidding? He was a wreck.

Still though, all of his teammates were amazing. Overall they stood a pretty good chance. And if nothing else, he was a heck of a lot better than when he started. Okay, not saying much, but.

Stowing the sword for the dozenth time, Jaune took a deep breath. He quickly realized this to be a mistake as his nostrils filled with the sweaty smell of the locker room - or maybe it was his own perspiration. Either way, he shook his head to clear it.

Spotting a full-body mirror off to his right, he decided to check his armor again and made toward it. As he walked - somewhere between a saunter and a trudge - he saw the door open in his periphery and, turning his head slightly, watched Pyrrha enter the room, returning her slight smile when she met his eye.

"Sokka, you've got sauce all over your face," said Katara.

Sokka ran his tongue all around the edges of his mouth.

"You've still got a little . . ."

"Where?"

"There."

"Here?"

"No, here."

"There?"

"Ugh, just let me get it." Katara drew the water from her pouch out into the air in front of her.

"No!" Sokka squeaked, leaping to his feet. "I've had enough of your waterbending face-scrubs to last a lifetime! I'll get it myself."

Katara stowed her water with a "Hmph" as Sokka strode over to the mirror that still stood where the Dark One had been creating art.

Jaune arrived at the mirror, and in his distracted state it took him a moment to realize that something was wrong. His reflection had walked up to meet him, true, but it looked like it belonged to someone else. The skin and hair were both darker, with only the blue eyes remaining about the same color. The clothing was blue, but the pants a darker shade than his jeans, and the top of the outfit was completely different, lacking his white armor pieces and black-and-red undershirt. The gloves were fingerless like his, but black instead of brown, and the hair was done up in some weird style with the sides shaven and the back pulled into a ponytail. His sword was also missing, though it looked like there might be some kind of weapon strapped to the stranger's back.

There was a little sauce on one side of this guy's face.

Sokka arrived at the mirror to find an unfamiliar figure looking back at him. Though of similar height, age, and build, this guy looked nothing like him. His skin was unnaturally pale and his hair was best described as yellow. He wore a few white armor pieces over some strange clothes, but they hardly covered enough of him to provide effective protection. There was a sword on his hip, causing Sokka to once more long for his lost meteor sword. But there were probably more important things to think about at the moment.

Watching the not-reflection carefully, Sokka raised his arm.

Watching the not-reflection carefully, Jaune raised his arm.

Abruptly, Sokka shook the raised arm up and down repeatedly. That should fool him.

Abruptly, Jaune shook the raised arm up and down repeatedly. That should fool him.

Determined to outwit the reflection-man, Sokka raised the other arm.

Determined to outwit the reflection-man, Jaune raised the other arm.

Sokka performed three jumping jacks before launching a pair of punches accompanied by a shout of "Wack-A-Pow!"

Jaune performed three jumping jacks before launching a pair of punches accompanied by a shout of "Wack-A-Pow!"

Defeated, Sokka dropped his arms.

Defeated, Jaune dropped his arms.

Turning back to the luncheoning group, Sokka said, "Toph, there's something wrong with your mirror!"

"What d'you mean?"

"Come look for yourself!"

"Sokka. If I have to tell you one more time -"

"Sorry. But this mirror makes me look like some pale-faced scrawny guy!"

"You're calling me scrawny?" protested an unfamiliar voice.

Toph felt everyone in the room freeze at the same time, but she was the most surprised of all. She had heard the voice, loud and clear, but it sounded unlike anyone she knew and, bizarrely, seemed to have emanated from the mirror itself. She briefly entertained the idea that Sokka had learned some strange new voice trick, but this all seemed too elaborate to be a prank.

Were she of a weaker constitution, her heart may well have stopped when she felt the footstep of someone new entering the room from - seemingly - inside of the mirror.

Jaune stepped cautiously fully through the mirror - it felt as though it were not there at all, like he was just walking through a hole in the wall. On the other side, he found himself not only next to the boy - man? - guy who had replaced his reflection, but before a sizeable group of people sitting on the floor of what looked to be some kind of old-fashioned training room and eating out of several large picnic baskets.

"What's happening?" demanded the smallest girl of the group. "Somebody tell me!"

"The mirror people are invading!" cried the largest of the males, looking horrified. "We're doomed!"

"What wayward specter hath brought the fog of mystery upon our noble school?" said an emo-looking kid, with a theatrical hand flourish.

The second-smallest girl punched the ground in her seated position, and in response the three who had spoken fell over as though bumped by something from underneath. Then the ground-punching girl said, "Sokka, am I crazy or did someone just walk out of the mirror?"

"You're not crazy!" replied the reflection-guy. "At least, not any more than before."

Sokka, as he was apparently called, leaned toward Jaune and, with one finger, poked his arm as though to check its solidity, withdrawing it quickly as he might from a hot stovetop. Jaune, meanwhile, had been in a shock-induced trance, and literally jumped out of it in response to the poke, letting out a tiny squeal in the process.

As the seated people began to rise, all staring at him, Jaune turned his head partially back toward the mirror, keeping his eyes on the group. "Pyrrha?" he called with a cracking voice. "A little help?"

When nothing happened for a moment, he began turning fully to investigate - just in time for Pyrrha's spear to once again catch his hood, carrying and pinning him to the far wall, between some metal statues.

"That's not what I meant!" Jaune screeched, his face briefly red.

"I'm sorry!" came Pyrrha's usual response. Then another pause as, Jaune assumed while he tugged ineffectually at the spear, Pyrrha realized that this was not a usual situation. ". . . Jaune?"

As the others approached Sokka and the reflection-guy, somebody else stepped out of the mirror. A girl this time. Her outfit was a bit skimpy - well, no, not quite that: it showed a fair amount of skin, but it also reminded Sokka a lot of Fire Nation regalia, and the girl carried herself with a similar air of honor. Her waist-length hair was the same red as leaves in the fall, which was not a color that Sokka had seen on hair before.

The girl - their exchange of names had dubbed her "Pyrrha" and the guy "Jaune" - returned the amazed gazes of Sokka's group before glancing back at Jaune, still proving unable to free himself from the wall. Pyrrha then raised her hand in Jaune's direction, and with the precision of animal instinct the spear shot backwards out of the wall directly toward the upturned palm; Pyrrha caught the weapon before Sokka and the others even had time to hop in surprise at the sudden movement. Jaune, meanwhile, fell to the floor, and the impact caused the three metal statues to tumble over, burying him beneath them.

The unfortunate boy's arm slithered out of the top of the pile of statues and gave a thumbs-up gesture. "Thanks, Pyrrha . . ." he said groggily.

Pyrrha looked uncertainly from Jaune to the others several times before once more raising her hand in Jaune's direction. This time, all three metal statues rose into the air to free him.

"She's metalbending!" cried Ho Tun, pointing with one hand and holding the other against his cheek in astonishment.

"How's she doing that?!" Penga squealed, referring, Sokka assumed, to the fact that Pyrrha had not made any proper bending motions in order to lift the statues - merely a lazy wave of one hand.

"Two . . ." said the Dark One, counting down on his fingers. "One . . ."

Right on his cue, Toph stomped her foot and knocked the three students over again. This time she had nothing to say afterward - being blind, she was not staring at Pyrrha, but Sokka got the impression that she was focusing intently on her with her seismic sense.

Pyrrha, meanwhile, had moved over to Jaune and bent, offering him a hand while still keeping the statues aloft with the other. As she helped him up, Sokka noticed something . . . A lingering touch; a longing glance . . . A greater-than-ordinary satisfaction in her expression when he, slightly more sincerely this time, thanked her again . . . Sokka fancied himself a good reader of people, and to one with his expertise, this girl was an open book. A book that, if Sokka had to title, he suddenly decided would be called Ninjas of Love.

Jaune leaned backwards and pushed his hands against his back, producing a worrying cracking sound. Then he set his gaze back upon Team Avatar and the Beifong students - the latter of whom could probably relate to his physical misfortune as they collected themselves again - as Pyrrha waved the statues back into their positions along the wall. Then she joined Jaune and the others in the staring contest.

Aang was still at a loss for words. He had been through some strange scenarios, but they usually involved spirits; these two oddballs seemed by all accounts to be human, and to have just as little an idea of what was going on as he and the others did. But something nagged at the back of his mind. Something about this situation seemed . . . not familiar, but he felt as though he should be making a connection between this and . . . something . . .

But for now, well - he was the great bridge between worlds, right? He should be able to handle this.

He cleared his throat. "Hello, mirror people! I'm Aang. How do you do?"

"Yeah," Toph broke in, her arm snapping up to point at the female of the pair, "how do you do that? You were metalbending with like zero effort."

"Metal bending?" the girl asked. "I don't think I bent any of the statues . . ." She had a kind of slow, articulate way of speaking that Aang found rather soothing. After a pause, she added, "My Semblance is Polarity."

This statement was met with more dumbfounded staring. Finally Sokka snapped his fingers and said, "I've got it! She's speaking backwards, like when you hold up writing to a mirror!"

"And what about all the words they said before that?" Katara pointed out argumentatively.

Aang was wracking his brain; while the mirror girl's last sentence had just sounded like a series of random syllables to him, something about the first part seemed oddly familiar . . .

"Wait a minute, Jaune," the girl said to her companion. "Maybe we've finally discovered your Semblance!"

"So my Semblance is to turn mirrors into rooms full of people we don't know?" the guy responded doubtfully.

Semblance, Aang thought. Semblance. Where have I heard that word before?

"Maybe it's a sort of portal to another location," the girl continued, "and you just have to learn to control it."

Aang butted in again. "Well, if you guys need to figure out where you are, Sokka has all kinds of maps and stuff! Have you ever heard of Yu Dao?"

"No," said the guy.

"Or the Beifong Metalbening Academy?" Toph suggested.

"No," said the girl.

Toph blew at her bangs in annoyance, clearly feeling that her school deserved more recognition. At this point, Momo, who had been occupied with everyone's abandoned food, took brief flight and landed on Aang's shoulder, presumably with a full stomach.

"What the heck is that?" the mirror guy asked, pointing at Momo.

"He's Momo, my flying lemur," Aang said as he grinned and scratched Momo's head. "Anyway, why don't you guys come outside and meet Appa? The maps are still on his saddle, and maybe you can get your bearings straight?"

"Appa?" the girl repeated curiously.

As they all siphoned out of the doorway, Sokka, standing behind Jaune, silently put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. When he looked back, Sokka held a finger up to his mouth, and Jaune, though confused, took the hint and hung back noiselessly. Sokka watched the others depart attentively, and waited a while after they had all exited the building. Slowly, he spun Jaune to face him, cleared his throat, and opened his mouth to speak.

Then in an apparent burst of frustration, he grabbed Jaune by the shoulders and shook him violently, shouting at the top of his lungs, "SHE'S INTO YOU! WHY DON'T YOU SEE IT?!"

When Jaune's expression grew even more confused, Sokka raised one hand and slapped him across the face with all the strength he could muster, and then brought his arm back for a backhand against the other cheek.

"WAKE UP!"

Jaune woke up.

The smell informed him that he was back in the locker room. Opening his eyes as he gingerly sat up, he found Pyrrha standing over him.

He grumbled and asked, "What happened?"

"Well," she said, "that boy wasn't getting through your Aura, so I think you passed out more from the shock . . ."

"Wait," said Jaune, "that wasn't all a dream?"

"No." Pyrrha shook her head, then gestured to the mirror. "I brought you back through the mirror, but - I think it - closed back up."

Jaune leaned around her, and his own face stared back at him from the reflective surface. There was no sign of those strange strangers.

"Well," he said. "That was . . . freaky." Jaune looked down at his own body, seated on the locker room bench, marveling at nothing. Then he looked back up. "Uh - maybe it'd be best if we - didn't tell anyone about - that. At least for now."

Pyrrha nodded uncertainly, also looking at Jaune in apparent deep contemplation.

"But man," Jaune added, "what was that guy's problem? I think he was trying to tell me something, but I can't . . . Do you remember?"

Pyrrha blushed and looked away. "Oh, um . . . well . . ."

Naturally, at that moment Nora stormed into the room and screamed, "What are you guys doing?! You're gonna miss Team RWBY's first match!" And before either of them could reply, Nora grabbed each at the waist, lifted them over her head, and carried them away at the speed of a gale force wind.

"NNOOOOOOOOOO!" Sokka wailed, clawing at the once-again-solid mirror as he slowly slid to the floor, where he continued weeping and muttering.

"Come on, Sokka," said Katara, and she and Aang lifted him from either side and carried him arm-over-shoulder away from the mirror. "We have to leave now if we want to meet with Zuko on time."

"See ya later, guys!" said Aang, waving at Toph's students.

"I expect two more sculptures each when I get back!" Toph added.

In one synchronized, despondent voice, the three of them replied, "Yes, Sifu Toph."

The armored blimp approached with grandeur, as something of its size was wont to do. As it loomed closer, Aang had to dispel a slight shiver - even after several years of relative peace, the sight of the giant red airship still dragged up unpleasant memories. But the Avatar let them depart from his mind like leaves on the wind, and his smile returned, as wide as ever.

When, after landing procedures had been completed, Zuko finally appeared on the exit ramp, flanked by a male and a female guard, Appa let out a low groan of recognition from where he lay behind the group. Glancing back, Aang saw that Momo for once reacted with less enthusiasm, only shifting slightly where he napped, curled up, on Appa's back.

"Greetings, Fire Lord," said Aang, bowing respectfully as Zuko neared the end of the ramp.

"Only one airship, huh?" said Sokka much less formally. "Your old man would be so ashamed. I can hear him now - 'Blah blah blah power, blah blah blah weak!' "

"Sokka, you barely even met him," Katara scolded.

Shrugging, Sokka pointed his thumb at Aang and said, "I'm impersonating Aang's impersonation."

Aang's eyes snapped to Zuko's and his wide smile turned to one of embarrassment. Letting out a nervous laugh and rubbing the back of his neck, he said, "So, Zuko - what did you want to talk to us about?"

Zuko looked down and to the side in consideration, then back up at Aang. "It's a little complicated. There have been reports of dark spirit attacks throughout the Fire Nation . . ."

Aang cocked his head. "The Kemurikage?"

"I thought so at first," Zuko continued. "But it seems these new reports are something different. For a while, it was all just rumors, but . . ." He shared a look with the guard on his right. "I've seen - injuries. I'm concerned for the safety of my people."

Aang mulled this over. "Spirits don't attack for no reason. Do the reports have anything in common?"

"Actually," Zuko said, "there is one thing. The stories always say the dark spirits are driven off by another spirit who comes to the people's aid. They call him the Crow Spirit. Supposedly, he can take the form of a man, and he battles the dark spirits with a weapon that also changes shape. And . . ." The Fire Lord shifted awkwardly, glancing once more at the male guard, who stifled a laugh. "Well, after the people are saved, they thank the Crow Spirit, and, according to the stories, he asks to be rewarded with gifts of . . ." Zuko's gaze shifted between all of his old friends before he concluded. ". . . Alcohol."

A tumbleweed took the opportunity to fulfill its destiny before Sokka commented dryly, "Spirits hitting the sauce. Now I've heard everything."

"Well," Toph chimed in, "that's - neat and all, but I have a school to run, Zuko. Do you really need all of us?"

"Some reports have started coming in from the colonies, so the Earth Kingdom may be at risk too," Zuko replied. "I'm starting to fear the whole world might be in danger."

Sokka zipped over and clapped Zuko on the back before holding up his other hand dramatically and declaring, "And what better reason to reunite Team Avatar?! Whaddaya say, guys - ready to save the world again?!"

Aang and Katara shared a worried look. Dark spirits attacking, the whole world possibly in jeopardy - not exactly a cause for celebration.

Weiss drifted slowly out of sleep to the sounds of birds chirping. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the morning sun streaming in through the window, gently warming her face. A face toward which leaned that of Ruby, her whistle in hand betwixt the two. Silently, Ruby sucked in a huge breath, and -

Weiss's hand shot up at the moment of truth, shoving the whistle fully into Ruby's mouth, reducing its expected blare to a brief yelp, followed by a "Blaw" from Ruby as her tongue extruded with the whistle hanging on by a thread of saliva. This being the sight to which Weiss first opened her eyes, she immediately closed them again, her short-lived feeling of satisfaction similarly replaced with regret.

Finding herself still too tired to think of a sarcastic comment, Weiss went with a resigned, "Good morning, Ruby."

"Gooood morning, Weiss!" Weiss took the reply to mean that Ruby had resolved the whistle situation, and opened her eyes again. The whistle was indeed gone, though she avoided looking down at the floor for fear it had simply fallen there. Ruby continued, "How are you feeling today? Vitals in check? Aura full? No bed sores?" Ruby bustled around Weiss, poking at different parts of her to no real effect, and lastly holding her wrist to check her pulse, during which Ruby stared at her own wrist despite her distinct lack of a watch.

"I'm fine, Ruby," Weiss said as she pulled her hand away. "It's not like we all haven't been hit with worse."

"I don't know, a volcano to the face? To the everywhere, actually. I don't think we've done that one before."

"It was hardly a volcano," said Weiss as she slowly sat up and swung her legs off the bed.

"Well, anyway, as team leader it's my job to get you back in tip-top condition!"

"I'm fine," Weiss repeated. "Besides, it's just Yang moving forward in the tournament."

"Yeah, but you never know -"

"Ruby!" Yang's voice came through the open window, and Ruby swept over to look down from it. "Is Weiss awake yet?!"

"Yeah!"

"You guys need to come down here! We found a thing!"

"Okay! What kind of thing?!"

"I don't know! Some weird swirly thing! With colors! Floating there! It's - Just get down here!"

"I'll meet you there," said Weiss as Ruby turned back to her. "Let me at least get dressed first."

Zuko sat hunched over a small desk in a small room inside the airship, scribbling at a paper by candlelight. This deep in the heart of the beast, one could almost forget that the room was floating miles in the air and not rooted safely to the earth. Though its design was procured under unsavory circumstances, there was no doubting the engineering genius of that fellow calling himself the Mechanist, not to mention -

Muffled voices from the other side of the metal door were followed by it swinging open and Sokka striding in. Or at least, attempting to stride in, before being restrained mid-stride by a guard.

"There you are!" Sokka said to Zuko, ignoring the guard but for his iron grip.

"I'm sorry, My Lord!" said the guard. "He -"

Zuko, without looking back, raised a hand and said wearily, "Let him in."

The guard dutifully let go of Sokka's shoulder, allowing him to complete his stride up to the left side of Zuko's chair.

"I thought you'd be in the control room," Sokka spoke as he moved. "I may have just revolutionized air travel; no need to thank me." Leaning against Zuko's desk with one hand, he added, "Although you may -" he leaned in close to Zuko's face with one eye wide - "if you'd like."

Zuko sighed. "If you're asking whether or not I'm back together with Mai, the answer is no."

"Ah, don't worry," said Sokka, pulling himself into a sitting position on the desk. "Before you know it, you'll hear the pitter-patter of little princes and princesses complaining about how awful the decorations are in the palace and agonizing over how they need to regain their honor." Casually, Sokka picked up the piece of parchment that Zuko had been writing on and held it in front of his face, but Zuko snatched it back a moment later and stuffed it in a drawer.

"I don't know, Sokka. Being the Fire Lord's girlfriend can't be easy. And me in particular . . ."

"Better you than your dad," Sokka shrugged. "Really, it's no wonder your mom was so hard to find. How's she doing, by the way?"

"Better, I guess," said Zuko, his eyes jumping around the room as though searching for a more solid answer. "Kiyi's starting to warm back up to her . . ."

"Oh yeah, Aang said Kiyi found out she's a firebender! Nice! Have you done any, y'know -" Sokka hopped off the desk and attempted some makeshift firebending moves, several of which Zuko had to duck around due to the proportions of the room. Sokka concluded by imitating Aang's bow and said, "Sifu Hotman."

Zuko cracked a tiny smile in spite of himself. "She wants me to train her, yeah, but there hasn't been a lot of time . . ." He frowned again. Sokka resumed his pretend bending for some reason, and Zuko wracked his brain for a way to stop him. "So, what about you and Suki?"

Sokka came out of a spinning move and ended up in a teakettle pose. "Yeah, y'know, it's hard," he said, touching his chin thoughtfully. "We're on different sides of the world a lot, but I think we're doing okay. She always seems happy to see me, at least."

"And Aang and Katara are still -"

"Maximum oogie-osity," Sokka confirmed, dangling his tongue in disgust.

The door had been left open a crack, and this time the voices from outside were less muffled as a result. Zuko caught the guard who had restrained Sokka saying, "The Fire Lord is in a very important meeting about his interpersonal relationships!"

"This is urgent! I think!" was the response.

Sokka shot Zuko a questioning look and the Fire Lord nodded; Sokka pulled the door all the way open, and both guards turned to look inside. The new arrival had the most incredible sideburns.

"My Lord!" said the sideburn guard with a bow. "A matter of some urgency has arisen!"

"What is it, General Mak?" Zuko asked.

The General fidgeted in place. "Well, Your Lordship, there is a . . . That is to say, a strange thing has . . . Um, our men have sighted a kind of . . ."

A mild gust from behind General Mak heralded the arrival of Aang, who without preamble said, "Sokka, Zuko! Come look at the weird swirly colory thing!"

"It's like if a black hole and a rainbow had babies that were octopuses!" squealed Ruby.

"Octopi," Blake corrected.

The thing hung there in midair, pulsing and undulating. Its colors and movements were mesmerizing, but revealed nothing of its nature. It had certainly never been here before - Team RWBY had crossed this particular pathway dozens of times.

"We should probably find a teacher," Weiss said.

"I wanna touch it . . ." said Yang dreamily, reaching out slightly.

"Are you dense?!" Weiss cried, pushing Yang's hand down. "You could lose an arm!"

"I think I see something in there . . ." said Ruby, squinting at the thing and leaning forward.

"Look," huffed Weiss, "will both of you just -"

Ruby suddenly lost her balance and fell forward, but halfway to the ground she was lifted into the air and sucked into the center of the colorful thing, where her image appeared to shrink until it vanished completely.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted, and without hesitation she jumped in after her, meeting the same fate.

Blake and Weiss looked at each other in exasperation. Shrugging, Blake said, "I guess we're doing this," and walked forward. She too was pulled in and seemingly shrunken.

Weiss pouted and stamped her foot. "Dunces, all of you! And now I suppose you expect me to -"

Something shoved Weiss roughly in the back. It felt like a hand, but by the time the multicolored mass had spun her around, she could no longer see anything of Beacon's grounds - just more kaleidoscopic visions.

I swear on my family's name, Weiss thought as she fell upward toward a twirling Blake, I'll get back at whoever just did that.

As Aang stared into the thing, it seemed that, in the middle of its otherwise random appearance, a figure began to form. Then another, and another, and one more. Four figures. Four . . . girls? And about the color scheme of their clothes . . .

In an instant, it all came rushing back to him. Remnant, Beacon Academy - Semblances - Professor Ozpin, the Grimm, the sort-of-Grimm man thing, and - the girls.

Turning back to his friends, Aang said, "Okay, so this is gonna sound a little crazy, but see those people spinning inside there?"

"They're getting closer . . ." remarked Katara.

"Well, I actually know them," said Aang. After thinking for a moment, he continued, "Remember when I said it was a giant lion turtle who taught me how to take away people's bending?"

"Vaguely," said Sokka.

"Well, that was true, but it wasn't exactly the whole story. See, the lion turtle actually sent me to a completely different world. I had kind of a mini-adventure there, and I picked up the whole energybending thing, but, anyway, the point is -"

One by one, the four girls tumbled out of the portal, each landing on top of the last with a loud thud. As they climbed over each other and attempted to return to their feet, Aang gestured at them with an upturned hand.

"Everyone," he said with another big smile, "meet Team RWBY."

Cliffhangers. Ain't I a stinker?

I'm not sure if that Looney Tunes-esque mirror gag really works in written form, but I tried. To be clear, it wasn't Jaune's Semblance, it was the resonance cascade. Anyway, Sokka's Arkos outburst is something that Miles (Jaune's voice actor) said word-for-word at a panel, so that's kind of a meta-gag. We'll see more of Team JNPR in this story, but not for a while.